Yellowjackets report: Conference titles defended for UWS men's soccer, cross country
Oct. 30—Wisconsin-Superior defended its Upper Midwest Athletic Conference men's cross country championship by the slimmest of margins on Saturday in St. Bonifacius, Minnesota.
The Yellowjackets and Martin Luther both finished with 50 points, so the championship went down to head-to-head comparisons for each of the top five runners of the tied schools. UWS won three of the five comparisons and with it their fifth league championship in six attempts.
UWS sophomore Michael Butterfield (Greenway) finished second individually in 27 minutes, 20.3 seconds for eight kilometers, about 15 seconds behind winner Jeremiah Vanacker of host Crown. Martin Luther runners finished in positions five through seven, giving them two comparisons over UWS finishers Aidan Doherty (10th) and Zachary Reese (11th). David Collins and Kieran Johnson (Northwestern) of UWS came in 13th and 14th, which beat Martin Luther runners in 15th and 17th.
The UWS women ended up third with 82 points behind champions Martin Luther (35) and Bethany Lutheran (69).
The top Yellowjackets finisher was ninth-place Meagan Berg, who ran six kilometers in 26:17.9, 1:42 behind winner Maya Habben of Martin Luther. Sophomore Halle Barker took 13th (26:50.9) and also earned all-UMAC Second Team honors.
Wisconsin-Superior broke the tension with a pair of second-half goals to earn a 2-0 victory over Crown, and with it their fifth consecutive UMAC men's soccer championship on Saturday at NBC Spartan Sports Complex.
The teams were deadlocked until Alex Hanson's (Superior) 51st-minute goal on a header from a Harry Ambler pass.
The game tipped further in UWS's favor when Ethan Medina of Crown was sent off in the 56th minute for a second bookable offense, leaving the Polars to play with 10 men the rest of the way.
It wouldn't be until the 84th minute that the Yellowjackets could breathe easy, as Joel Thomas set up Jake Kidd (Superior) in transition for the freshman's eighth goal of the season.
UWS controlled play throughout, holding a 28-2 advantage in shot attempts and 14-1 in shots on target.
Despite the result, Crown (5-11-3, 5-6-3 UMAC) retained the fourth position in the conference standings and so, will play UWS (14-3-2, 11-1-2 UMAC) again on Wednesday afternoon in the UMAC tournament semifinals.
Wisconsin-Superior made it through the UMAC schedule without a loss, though Crown made it interesting in a 3-2 game in the regular-season finale for both teams at NBC Spartan Sports Complex.
Mya Holmquist and Niya Wilson staked the Yellowjackets to an early lead with goals inside the first 12 minutes, but the Polars pulled one back in the 28th through Emma Domka, and it remained a one-goal game deep into the second half.
Beth Schneider reestablished UWS's two-goal lead in the 76th minute, but Crown had another reply, this time from Rylee Fischer 4:40 from time.
The Yellowjackets had a 16-5 edge in shot attempts, but only 7-4 in shots on target.
Quinn Clark made a pair of saves for UWS (13-3-4, 13-0-1), which will host Crown again in a UMAC quarterfinal on Wednesday night.
Wisconsin-Superior couldn't hold on to a 2-0 lead after two periods but junior Jenna Hoops proved all's well that ends well when she scored 46 seconds into overtime to win the game 3-2 over Lawrence on Saturday in Appleton, Wisconsin.
Hoops opened the scoring on a power play 9:26 into the game, and the Yellowjackets made it 2-0 on Avery Schwark's goal 3:53 into the second period.
However, Sofia Alvarez and Delaney Kingsland tied the game up in the third period for the Vikings before Hoops, a transfer from St. Michael's in Vermont, did her heroics.
UWS (2-0) got 22 saves from goaltender Molly Black. The Yellowjackets will have their home opener on Friday vs. Hamline at Wessman Arena.
